Short Interest in WisdomTree, Inc. (NYSE:WT) Drops By 16.9%

WisdomTree, Inc. (NYSE:WT) saw a significant decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 18,160,000 shares, a decrease of 16.9% from the February 13th total of 21,850,000 shares. Approximately 15.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,710,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 10.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at WisdomTree

In related news, insider Alexis Marinof sold 90,980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.87, for a total transaction of $897,972.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 221,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,182,711.02. This represents a 29.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WisdomTree

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of WisdomTree by 21.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,332,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,304,000 after acquiring an additional 410,348 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in WisdomTree by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 708,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,081,000 after purchasing an additional 150,257 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its holdings in WisdomTree by 180.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 115,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after purchasing an additional 74,173 shares in the last quarter. Crawford Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in WisdomTree by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter. Crawford Fund Management LLC now owns 499,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,994,000 after purchasing an additional 126,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in WisdomTree by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 73,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $773,000 after purchasing an additional 43,293 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WT. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of WisdomTree from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of WisdomTree from $12.00 to $10.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.54.

WisdomTree Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:WT traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $8.47. 1,434,573 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,437,507. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 2.92 and a quick ratio of 2.13. The firm has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.31 and a beta of 1.53. WisdomTree has a 52-week low of $7.96 and a 52-week high of $12.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.14.

WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.02). WisdomTree had a return on equity of 24.67% and a net margin of 15.59%. As a group, analysts predict that WisdomTree will post 0.72 EPS for the current year.

WisdomTree Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. WisdomTree’s payout ratio is currently 38.71%.

About WisdomTree

WisdomTree, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an exchange-traded funds (ETFs) sponsor and asset manager. It offers ETFs in equities, currency, fixed income, and alternatives asset classes. The company also licenses its indexes to third parties for proprietary products, as well as offers a platform to promote the use of WisdomTree ETFs in 401(k) plans.